


summer mixtape

by clowning



Series: slowdance [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Beach House, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, ITS GLITRADORA TIME BABEY, Jealous Catra, Smut, Summer Vacation, also Jealous Glimmer, but Catra is still a cat, the Super Pal Trio is a band, well it will be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 08:15:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19147084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clowning/pseuds/clowning
Summary: “I mean, Glimmer’s mom is letting us spend a few weeks in their beach house for vacation.”Of course Sparkle’s rich politician mom has a beach house. Why the fuck wouldn’t she?Catra drinks her coffee and motions for Adora to continue.“And she said it was okay if I invited a few friends over, I mean, as long as we don’t wreck the place. I thought you could come with us, have a- uh, songwriting retreat or something.”Then a thought that has her gut sinking flashes in her mind; way-too-perfect-for-each-other Adora and Sparkles on a private beach. Together. Alone.Catra nearly chokes on her waffles, her only saving grace the fact that Adora is very interested in her own meal.Hell no. No fucking way in hell she isn’t going.(The Best Friend Squad and the Super Pal Trio spend the summer in Angella's beach house. It gets messy.)





	summer mixtape

**Author's Note:**

> IM BACK BABY! With a multi-chapter fic with nice summer vibes! 
> 
> This work also has a soundtrack (the songs I listened to whilst writing), so if you want some nice jams as well, I'll be including links to songs here at the top of each chapter. (I strongly recommend listening, for the experience and bc the music is good, imo)
> 
> FUN FACT: Catra's band is based on, and a reference to the musician, Thundercat! He's the guy that was Skip's singing voice and mocapped his bass playng in Carole & Tuesday!
> 
> please feel free to leave kudos, comments, or both! enjoy!! :D
> 
> this chapter's song: https://youtu.be/s7tnTucP1UM

They’re only ten minutes into today’s session and Catra is already jonesing for a smoke break. Their apartment in the Fright Zone is cheap and barely holds up to the elements at the best of times. 

This is not one of those times. The early June heat seeps in and hangs over them and does not leave. Their only saving grace is a small electric fan that Entrapta dug out of the mess of junk and electronics that has taken over their storage unit. The pitiful thing putters as it blows its measly breeze, hitching every so often on the oscillation cycle.

Catra could really go for a menthol.

She scowls, her fingers leaving sweat on the strings of her bass, smearing up and down the fretboard with every new note. She is definitely going to have to re-string the instrument soon. If the heat is bothering Entrapta, she doesn’t show it, eyes wandering over handwritten sheet music as she plucks at her guitar. Catra figures that her brain is moving too fast to register the heat. Lucky.

Massive kudos to Scorpia, the big lug, who drums away diligently, never missing a beat despite the sweat gathering at her temples. 

Catra lays down a lick, fingers dancing across the strings. She takes in a breath and has a fraction of a second to be disappointed when what greets her is clean air and not mint-flavored tobacco.

_“Nobody move, there’s blood on the floor.”_

Adora is on lifeguard duty at the college pool right about now. A sultry mix of jealousy and lust swirl in her belly, thoughts of blue eyes and naked skin in a cool oasis.

_“And I can’t find my heart.”_

Everything might feel less stifling if the album crunch wasn’t coming around the bend. 

It probably isn’t advisable to be fucking (dating?) your manager, but hell if it isn’t convenient to have Entrapta butter Hordak up and make room for the trio to take the time to really flex their creative muscles. If the last EP says anything, it makes it pretty clear, qualitatively and economically, that Wildcat is at their best when they have wiggle room.

But even Entrapta can only ask so much of Hordak.

_“It must’ve fell when I lost my mind.”_

Some part of Catra misses high school- or rather, the long summers that came after. That part of her that remembers lounging in patches of sun, head in Adora’s lap, feeling gentle fingers thread through her hair, scratch behind her ears. The part that remembers bike rides to the corner store for dreamsicle pops and catching fireflies at sundown. 

She wishes summer still felt like it did.

_“Where were you when I needed you the most?”_

 

 

The session wraps after Scorpia, after long last, has to tap out and search the fridge for a cool drink. Entrapta follows suit, retrieving a sweating can of energy drink and plopping down in front of the fan with a collection of small tools. She sets about repairing the oscillation motor and clearing the gunk from the works. 

Catra checks the time on her phone. She barely gives the band a glance over her shoulder as she speaks, “I’m running to the 7-11.”

Entrapta flashes a thumbs up. Scorpia peeks around the corner, sweat-damp hair swept back. “Be safe,” she says, all smiles. 

Catra is already out the door.

 

 

Catra holds her phone to her ear with a shoulder, giving her claws an inspection as she walks. The line rings once, twice, half of a third before Adora picks up, so eager that Catra can feel it. 

She can’t help but smirk.

“Hey, Adora.”

Adora’s smile can be heard through the speaker. Catra jogs across the hot pavement and slips in through the door before it closes behind the patron ahead of her. She strolls to the back of the convenience store, browsing the drinks in the coolers, taking a moment to relish in and be jealous of the quality air conditioning. One panel of fluorescent lighting flickers.

_“Hey, Catra! I was about to call you.”_

“Oh yeah?” Her tail twitches.

_“Yeah.”_

Catra settles on an orange soda, plucking the bottle from the shelf. She presses it to the back of her neck, the cold soothing her sweating skin. The bottle remains there as she heads to the register.

“Are you free?”

Catra is a regular for the cashier at the register in front of the cigarettes. He gives her a nod, finding a pack of her brand and sliding it across the counter. She smacks her change down and scoops the pack up in one motion, giving the cashier a wave over her shoulder. 

There is no hesitation when Adora answers, _“Yeah, of course. I was actually going to ask you the same thing. I want to come see you. Take you to dinner, if you want?”_

A note of excitement lights up in Adora’s voice and it makes Catra’s heart flutter so much that she has to reign herself back in.

“Wow, Princess has a place for me in her busy schedule? What’s the occasion?” 

She can practically see Adora shake her head. She takes a swig of orange soda and waits for her to elaborate.

_“Can’t I just want to see my girlfriend?”_ The pout is palpable.

Catra bites her tongue on, _not usually, no._ Most of the time it’s midnight trysts and liasons, stolen moments somewhere hidden. It’s been routine for so long that Catra has forgotten what it is they’re hiding from anymore.

Instead, she starts booking it back to the apartment and says, drizzled with nonchalance and sweet seduction, “Come pick me up if you’re so eager, sweetheart.”

It’s definitely enough because Catra hears Adora’s breath catch and her keys jangle, followed by a resolute, _“On my way.” ___

____

 

____

 

____

Once back home, Catra strides right to her room, finishing off her soda and meeting Scorpia’s greetings with a flippant wave. The empty bottle is tossed aside, followed by her clothes as Catra jumps into a cold shower, scrubbing away the sweat and summer heat. 

____

Finished, she dresses in a pair of cut off shorts and an old shirt, the sleeves having long since been torn off. Catra scoops up the new pack of cigarettes and removes the plastic wrapping, packing the box and drawing one out, letting it sit between her teeth. 

____

Sliding a claw in between cheap, dust littered blinds, Catra pulls them down and peeks through the space left there. The apartment complex across the street, the deli, convenience store, cracked concrete with dandelions pushing through. She sucks her teeth and lights the cigarette and lets the nicotine pick her up and the cool menthol soothe her burns.

____

Slitted eyes watch their patch of town and something stifled and desperate bubbles up in her heart and she can’t quite quash it down. 

____

 

____

 

____

Catra sees Adora arrive, but waits for her to exit the car and knock on the door. She gives herself a spritz of perfume as she passes through her space, pausing only to tell Scorpia and Entrapta not to wait up for her.

____

Seeing Adora up close is like counting birds against the sun. Her straw-blonde hair has been bleached, her skin kissed and freckled by time spent soaking up sunlight. That smile reaches her blue eyes, crinkling them at the corners. The outline of her muscled shoulders is firm against the fabric of her shirt. 

____

Letting the door creak shut behind them, Catra hooks a claw into the belt loop of Adora’s jeans, pulling her close for a kiss. Adora smells like that lavender and jasmine body wash that Catra knows sits upon the second shelf in her shower, turned onto its cap. And under that, the last remnants of chlorine. Catra guides Adora’s hands to her hips, carding her paws through soft hair, breathing her in like an addict.

____

Adora hums into the contact as if just given a pleasant surprise. She pulls away, free of any sense of urgency, and murmurs against Catra’s lips, “Mm. You taste good. Like those popsicles we used to get.” 

____

Catra pauses. Just for a moment. Something that feels like a fever dream that they shared together. There’s a twinge of nostalgia that peeks through the heavy blanket of powerlessness that Catra associates with childhood.

____

Adora dollops a kiss on her chin, just because. Her gaze is butter soft, and Catra has to fight and resist squirming under so much tender affection at once. 

____

“I missed you,” Adora says, stroking her thumb over Catra's hipbone.

____

Catra rolls her eyes, removing any opportunity for Adora to find anything more than amusement there. Simply coasting past her, Catra leads Adora back to her car, pulling her along by her belt. 

____

“Pssh. C’mon, sap.”

____

Catra resists, but neither of them can stop smiling on their way to the car. Adora opens the door for her. 

____

Adora kept the SUV running and the air conditioning turned on high; sliding onto cool leather after baking under the sun has to be one of the greatest feelings. Right under sex with Adora, after some pondering.

____

The red SUV is spacious, enough so for various bags and cases of sorting goods and equipment. Her lacrosse stick, cleats, gym bags filled with activewear, jerseys and otherwise. It’s the only space that Adora allows to be in any state of relative disarray. Catra kicks her feet up on the dashboard and picks at one of the parking passes stuck to her windshield. 

____

She watches her girlfriend cross to the driver’s side with curious eyes, her tail swishing and tapping on the back of the seat.

____

Something about Adora changes every time Catra sees her. Not always tangible. Maybe the way she carries herself, or how her eyes shine. A lesson learned. 

____

Or something. 

____

Her lips purse as Adora drops into the driver’s seat and buckles her seatbelt. Adora releases the emergency brake, and gives Catra a pointed look until she relents and puts her seatbelt on, too, rolling her eyes all the while. Typical; ever the goody two-shoes.

____

Satisfied, Adora drives out onto the main street, in the direction of uptown Brightmoon. Eyes flitting back to the road, Adora turns the volume dial on the radio. She’s got a CD playing, and the second the first note plays, Catra knows that it’s the CD she burned for her the spring break of their sophomore year. Right before Adora was scouted by Brightmoon High School’s varsity soccer team, and left Catra to fend for herself in that shitty public school.

____

She wants to be angry. Well, she is. She wants to be angrier, get pissed off and fall back into old patterns of rage followed by absence. Maybe she will. 

____

But, god, she’s tired. 

____

Tired of sitting in the heat, stamping her bruised heart on one page of lyrics after another, looking out the same window at the same fucking town that she grew up in. Bitter sorrow brews in her and she wants to cry but she does not. Instead, she rests her elbow on the window ledge and props her chin on her paw, watching the passing buildings get cleaner and prettier as they head towards Brightmoon.

____

She stews in her thought and pointedly tunes out the radio until she finds herself staring at a blinking OPEN sign. 

____

The diner is nothing fancy, humble, especially when compared most uptown establishments. Homey.

____

Something like guilt nips at her heels. _Fuck._ Adora was thinking of her. 

____

She gets out of the car faster than Adora can open her mouth, says in passing before closing the car door, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Get us seats, yeah?”

____

“Uh, okay, are-”

____

And Catra is in the restaurant, breezing to the back and into the ladies’ room. Pushing on stall doors, she gives the bathroom a once over. Empty. The sink creaks a bit when she leans on the edge, but it holds. Running cold water, Catra gathers it in her palms and scrubs at her face until she can pretend to feel clean. Face dripping, she looks at herself in the scuffed mirror. 

____

A breath enters and exits her chest like a mantra. A few more, and she feels relatively okay. 

____

Fact: Catra is twenty-two. Another fact: Catra is bad at living and at love.

____

She rips a paper towel from the dispenser and dries her paws and her face. She tousles her hair a bit and exits the bathroom, scanning the diner as she goes. The place is busy, but not overwhelmingly so, booths and tables dotted with patrons. Adora is easy to spot; Catra could find those eyes anywhere.

____

Adora has found them a booth tucked into a corner, and ordered Catra a coffee and ice water. 

____

Catra swaggers up to the booth and slinks in like she isn’t staggered by how head over heels in love she is with this girl. Shedding Adora’s concerned gaze, Catra opens the menu and looks for whatever sounds good.

____

Out of her peripheral, she can see Adora tilt her head, brows knitted with light concern. 

____

“Are you alright, Catra?” 

____

She doesn’t have it in her to lie, not to Adora, at least. So Catra opts to give her _a_ truth. Letting go of the menu, she rubs her temples, cracking her neck. The words leave her like a sigh. 

____

“Yeah,” she says. “It’s just the album crunch.”

____

It really is the reason she’s so tense. One of them, anyway. _Drunk_ is going to be Wildcat’s debut album, a follow up to two critically acclaimed EPs. They haven’t played a show in a while, tucking themselves away as they pen songs. Another bullet point on the list, Catra supposes; energy building up that she hasn’t been able to spend on stage.

____

Adora nods her head, letting Catra know that she hears her. A gentle invitation to continue that Catra accepts. 

____

“We’ve got a couple more months before the deadline, but composing is a fucking chore when we’re stewing in the apartment.”

____

"Mm!" Adora exclaims around a gulp of water, finger up while she swallows so she can speak. 

____

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about," she says. "You don’t have to stew in the apartment if you don’t want to.”

____

Catra’s ears flick as someone with antlers protruding from their skull drops silverware a few tables away. “What do you mean?”

____

“I mean, Glimmer’s mom is letting us spend a few weeks in their beach house for vacation.”

____

Catra couldn't roll her eyes any harder. Of _course_ Sparkle’s rich politician mom has a beach house. Why the fuck wouldn’t she?

____

Catra drinks her coffee and motions for Adora to continue.

____

“And she said it was okay if I invited a few friends over, I mean, as long as we don’t wreck the place. I thought you could come with us, have a- uh, songwriting retreat or something.”

____

Catra has to process the new information. A waitress in an embroidered apron comes to take their orders and refill their drinks. She orders breakfast for dinner and Adora gets a burger. With the menus taken, Catra finds a new focal point in Adora’s eyes. 

____

Sipping on her drink, she mulls it over. The trio is slumming it at the moment, so it’s not really like they’d have to call in anywhere. Hordak couldn’t care less where they write their songs, so long as he gets results. Catra absently wonders if he’ll miss Entrapta while she’s gone. Imagining him feeling anything for anyone is a strange concept.

____

God, it would be nice to get away. To not have to look at the same rotting streets, to not have to sit in that apartment for another fucking second. 

____

The sea air, the rhythm of waves… 

____

The key phrases ‘Glimmer’s beach house’ and ‘wreck the place’ ring in her mind. A smirk creeps up onto her lips.

____

The supplemental image of Adora half naked and soaking wet is all she needs to find her answer. 

____

As much as Catra likes to play it off, Scorpia and Entrapta are ride-or-die (well, mostly Scorpia, but Entrapta has no limits or boundaries), and she knows they’ll come along. It would be cool to find some inspiration in the change of scenery.

____

Her coffee mug hits the tabletop with a decisive thump. 

____

“You know what, why the hell not?”

____

Adora smiles, a million watts like she just won the lottery. “Great! I’ll let Glimmer know you’re all coming!”

____

_Ah yes, there it is,_ Catra thinks. _The catch._ Being in the vicinity of Sparkles for almost a month.

____

Their food arrives, hot and fresh, and Catra hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now. 

____

She cuts a chunk out of her waffles, digging in.

____

Then a thought that has her gut sinking flashes in her mind; _way_ -too-perfect-for-each-other Adora and Sparkles on a private beach. Together. Alone. 

____

Catra nearly chokes on her waffles, her only grace the fact that Adora is very interested in her own meal.

____

Hell no. No fucking way in hell she _isn’t_ going.

____


End file.
